By Bunmi Yekini
A growing number of adolescents and young people are living with HIV globally, with nearly 370,000 new infections recorded in 2024 among those aged 15 to 24, according to new data from UNAIDS. Of these, 145,000 were adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19, highlighting an urgent need for age-appropriate, gender-sensitive, and region-specific prevention efforts.
The statistics are particularly stark in sub-Saharan Africa, where 84 per cent of the estimated 1 million adolescents aged 15–19 living with HIV in 2024 reside. Worryingly, HIV testing among teens remains dangerously low. Only 29 per cent of adolescent girls and 19 per cent of boys in Eastern and Southern Africa were tested and received their results in the past year, rates that are even lower in West and Central Africa.
“If these trends continue, we’re looking at 183,000 new adolescent infections annually by 2030,” a UNAIDS spokesperson warned. “We cannot afford complacency. The time to act is now.”
Globally, adolescent girls bore the brunt of the crisis in 2024, accounting for 71 per cent of all new infections among 15- to 19-year-olds. In some sub-Saharan countries, girls are two to three times more likely than boys to become infected.
“This is a gendered epidemic in many parts of the world,” the spokesperson said. “Young women and girls are especially vulnerable due to social, economic, and cultural factors, and our interventions must reflect that reality.”
Outside of sub-Saharan Africa, the epidemic presents a different picture. In regions like East Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, more boys than girls are becoming infected, indicating a need for more nuanced strategies tailored to local patterns of risk behavior.
While there is some good news, HIV incidence has declined in many hard-hit countries due to safer sexual practices and increased access to treatment, testing remains a significant gap. Across regions with available data, fewer than one in three adolescents have been tested and received their results.
“Too many young people simply don’t know their status,” the UNAIDS representative emphasized. “Without that knowledge, they can’t access treatment or take steps to prevent transmission.”
Experts say schools could play a pivotal role in prevention. Evidence shows that school-based sex education can reduce risky behavior and increase awareness, especially in countries with generalized epidemics. However, in places with concentrated epidemics, where HIV spreads through stigmatized behaviors like sex work, drug use, and same-sex relations, intervention is more complex.
“Young people engaging in high-risk behavior often face barriers to care, including stigma and criminalization,” the UNAIDS spokesperson said. “Reaching them requires courage, innovation, and above all, inclusion.”
As the world pushes toward the 2030 goal of ending the AIDS epidemic, advocates stress that no progress will be possible without focusing on adolescents.
“Adolescents are not just part of the problem, they are central to the solution,” the spokesperson said. “If we invest in their health, education, and empowerment now, we can change the course of the epidemic for good.”